Tiny Little Fractures
by hyoidbone
Summary: Mackenzie thought he almost sounded pleased as she sucked in a breath, waiting for the information he was about to blow against her, but he seemed to be distracted and was looking straight past her. She slowly followed the gaze and looked through the glass door to her senior producer standing on the other side of the newsroom with a toddler in tow.
1. If There's a Rocket, Tie Me To It

Mackenzie sat impatiently at a desk that was as unfamiliar to her as a new language, trying to focus on the items and papers in front of her. None of it was hers but Don let her sit here while she waited and she spoke a little to a few employees she just met, Maggie and Neal, but the whole purpose of being here was giving her a little more stress than she anticipated.

She had been in the states for a few months now after producing for the last year and a half in England with her senior producer, Jim Harper. The whole reason for coming back was to finally get in touch with Will after all her e-mails and calls were ignored. She had business to attend to with him and she couldn't let it go on any longer.

In the meantime, she had focused on Don and Maggie, half attempting to listen but for the most part tuned out until she heard the conversation stop and footsteps storming up behind her. Her heart leaped into her throat and she found it difficult to breathe even before she turned around to face him.

Mackenzie slowly stood and tried to read his expression when she saw him. His face was distorted into frustration and anger and everything she expected the moment she found out he had no idea she had already been hired. She cursed Charlie for having not informed her of it but in the meantime, she shoved it out of her mind.

"Hello Will," she began but he barely reacted. "You lo—"

He cut off her by lifting an arm and pointing in the direction of his office. She quietly turned and followed behind him and slipped in, the door closing behind her.

"I tried getting in touch with you over the last few years… several times," she began. She knew he didn't read any of them; if he had, she was confident he would have responded. The content of the letters should have been enough to gain his attention and one of the reasons she stood in his office.

"I know," he responded flatly, pulling a cigarette from his desk and lighting it.

Mackenzie sucked in a breath to keep from choking on the smoke headed her way. "And you didn't read a single one or return a single call," she announced.

"I know."

Her face twisted and she pulled the seat out, sitting down as if she had been invited all along. His brows rose before rolling his eyes and taking a long drag of his cigarette. He held it a moment before blowing out the long stream of smoke.

"If you'd just… I don't know, looked at them or listened to my voice mails, you'd see how sorry I was. How sorry I _am_. You'd know I'd gone to England for the last few years and you'd know why I'm here now. You'd know—"

Will lifted a hand and waved her off. "Look, I don't give a shit about the emails or the calls or anything. I only care that no one fucking told me they hired you without my consent while I was gone and I can't do anything about it other than humiliate you as much as possible," he began.

Mackenzie thought he almost sounded pleased as she sucked in a breath, waiting for the information he was about to blow against her, but he seemed to have gotten distracted and was looking straight past her. She slowly followed the gaze and looked through the glass door to her senior producer standing on the other side of the newsroom. He stood there awkwardly, a young toddler gripping his hand with tears in her eyes, and she began to stand.

"What the fuck?" he exclaimed, pushing himself from the desk and pushed past the door before her. Mackenzie was quick to follow him out. "Are you lost?" he yelled across the newsroom, irritated.

Jim didn't have time to answer before the young girl snapped from his hand and awkwardly ran away from him in excitement. He was promptly on her heels but came to a stop several feet away as he realized what he was about to get himself into. The child whirled right past Will and into the arms of Mackenzie as she knelt down and swept her up, perching her on her hip. "Hey there," she said softly, kissing the girl's forehead.

Will watched the whole thing happen, trying to put the pieces together but found none of it made too much sense. He followed the trail of the girl into Mac's arms and then stared at her for a long moment as the calculations ran in his head. She dared to seek his gaze to try and figure out what was going on up there but she remained silent while his expression changed into something she didn't quite understand.

"This is Penelope," she introduced but the girl had little interest in the meeting. Will's eyes widened, his hand up for more explanation, but Mackenzie only nodded a little before quietly responded. "She's your daughter," she whispered so no one else could hear but the gazes of what few employees in the area told her they knew exactly what was going on.


	2. Spitting Games

Will gaped. Mackenzie thought she lost him for a moment so she looked down at the child in her arms.

"Come on, Penny, you have to stay with Uncle Jim for a little while longer, okay? Are you hungry?" The child eagerly nodded her head. "He has your lunch," she informed her before she knelt down and let her scurry back toward Jim. She looked toward Jim who mouthed an apology before sweeping the kid off her feet.

Mac lingered a moment before returning to Will whose face had turned from blindsided to anger. He looked as if he couldn't find the words he really wanted to use and she didn't know would help. She worried if she started talking, she wouldn't be able to stop.

Will, in defeat and sudden embarrassment, finally moved away and went back into his office. Mac stood a second longer before she followed him, glancing back to see Jim disappear with the help of a young blonde woman.

"Will," she murmured as soon as she was on the other side of his door. He was searching for someone in his desk and eventually pulled out a cigarette. He didn't acknowledge she was speaking, which kept her from continuing, and sat down after a long drag of smoke to look at her.

"This is a joke, right?"

"What?"

Will waved his arm past her in the direction of the bullpen, smoke forming designs in the air with each movement.

"How could you think something like this is a joke?"

"Because you come here after three years with some kid and you expect me to believe it's mine? After three years?" His voice was raising and she flinched, trying not to think about who might hear them if he were any louder.

"I tried to contact you. In every way I knew how. If you had just-"

"Just what? Listened to the voicemails or read the emails?"

"Yes!"

"You really think I wanted anything to do with you after what you told me?"

Mackenzie felt herself shrink. She didn't know how to have this argument. As much as she would have liked him to be open about all this, she knew it wasn't going to be the case. She couldn't even imagine him wanting to be a part of this.

"I am sorry, I am, if I knew how else to tell you then, don't think I would have?"

"Of course I do. You tell me everything else," he scoffed and put the cigarette between his lips and inhaled.

Mackenzie winced at his words, her arms crossing over her chest and looking at the ground. She gave him a moment for apology but the air didn't change and he didn't speak.

"But somehow you felt this was the best way to do it. Have your nanny bring her up here before we talk?"

"He's not my nanny and I told him to wait before coming up," she insisted but Will's expression showed disbelief.

"And you come here saying she's mine-with what proof? For all I know, she could belong to anyone!"

He realized he caught the attention of Don and Neal as they both shot glances toward the office. Will tried not to notice and he focused on Mackenzie as she stood there. She looked uncomfortable and out of place and he wanted nothing more than to shove her out of his office.

"She doesn't belong to just anyone, Will. She's my daughter and your her father. That's the fact of it."

Will grunted as he finished the last drag of his smoke before forcing it out into a nearby ashtray.

"I can prove it, too, if you really need me to, but the fact is she looks just like you. From the moment I found out I was pregnant, I knew she was yours."

He rolled his eyes.

Mac sat down in the chair across from him.

"This is bullshit, Mackenzie, and you know it. Did you know before you told me about your ex-boyfriend?"

She shook her head. "It was a few weeks after."

Will stared at her and he felt the urge for a second smoke but he resisted.

The silence became uncomfortable for her. She wanted him to have more to say but she couldn't wait any longer.

"I wanted you to know then. I wanted to tell you but you shut me out."

"I wonder why."

Mac tensed. "I'm just trying to do the right thing."

"You clearly don't know what the right thing is," he snorted and turned in his chair to face his computer. He stared at is as if looking for answers but he just couldn't look at Mackenzie. "I want proof, Mac. I don't care what you do otherwise, I don't care how much you say she looks like me..." he trailed off and faced her once more. "And if she is, then what?"

She could hear her heart pound in her ears as he questioned her motive. They had spoken very little of children when they had been together but neither of them were eager for the idea of having any. When the test turned up positive, she felt what little was left of her world crumble and now three years later, Will was stomping on what she managed to build up.

"Mac?"

"I don't... I don't know. She is growing up and I hated the idea of that without her father. I wanted her real father to have the opportunity before anyone else. I'm not looking for any trouble with child support or any legality, but she and you both deserve a relationship with each other."

Will just stared at her, trying to find something in her words that spoke to him but he wasn't satisfied.

"I thought this would give us that chance," she confessed and went silent.

"I never wanted to see you again. Did you think of that? What if I want no part of it?"

Mac sighed and leaned back in the leather chair. "If that's really what you want, but don't make that decision now. At least meet her. If you don't... want to..." she felt herself choke up. She knew Will wouldn't receive the news well but to completely shut the relationship down before a chance? She hadn't even considered it. She looked to find his expression but he was stoic, however laced with anger. "And my contract is three years. You know me, that's prob-"

"It's not a three year contract," he interrupted.

"What?"

"It's not a three year—"

He was cut off mid-sentence when Jim burst through the door with Penelope in his arms and Don following him, clearly exasperated, eventually leading them into coverage of the biggest natural disaster in history.


End file.
